News. BC teachers take job action Strike in the face of net-zero mandate Legislating away people’s rights is: Circle the correct answer: 1) uncenstitutional Public Education : other agered sinBC e help 2) fascism ’ ‘ fy 3) immoral B | 4) vindictive NM Sjalofthe above FAP APS Teaching is important t eo we By Dylan Hackett, News Editor his week, BC Teachers are © [eons a three-day walkout in the midst of the ongoing contract dispute with the BC government—a move that a recent poll shows British Columbians are 62 per cent against. but not an essential sermce! However the same poll shows that a majority of British Columbians side with the teachers on the dispute, and last Friday many BC students held walk-outs in solidarity with their teachers, including a meeting of hundreds of students at the Vancouver Art Gallery downtown. Teachers finalized the walkout last Wednesday night after the union came to a vote in favour of a three- day strike. The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation’s negotiations with the provincial government have been ongoing since last March, and have been met with no room for negotiation by the BC Liberals’ Ministry of Education, who are upholding their 2010 “net zero” mandate—a wage-freeze on public sector employees. The mandate came just three years after the Provincial Legislative Assembly voted for a 29 per cent raise for all MLAs and a 54 per cent raise for the Premier. In the BCTF’s Teacher Newsmagazine, Tara Ehrcke, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, wrote, “Despite the rhetoric, this government is all about priorities, not belt tightening. There was little discussion of affordability when first a 25 [per cent] tax cut and then the aborted 15 [per cent] tax cut was introduced. Or what about the $1 billion for the Olympics? The BC stadium roof? From contract stripping, to back to work legislation, to the zero wage mandate, this government has attacked public sector workers. This is an ideological attack. It is not based on reason, finances or good government.” Teachers have set their sights on a wage increase which is in line with keeping up with rising costs of living. Currently, the BCTF is asking the provincial government for a three-year plan which would, in the first year, see a 3 per cent increase at pace of rising cost of living. The second and third years would include the same 3 per cent increase as the first year but with an extra three per cent raise in the agreement as well. Currently, BC teachers make far less the rest of the country on average, with only PEI and Quebec making less at the maximum salary level according to the BCTF. On the same day that BC teachers finalized the walk-out, the BC government introduced a bill to the Legislative Assembly which would halt the strike and limit the ability for future job action to take place. The bill also includes the appointment of a mediator for future discussions. Since negotiations last March, there have been over 60 meetings between BCTF delegates and the government. Government shuts down student job centres By David Hollinshead, Staff Writer ed by Minister Diane Finley, L« federal Human Resources department is shutting down seasonal youth job centres across Canada in favour of bolstering online job resources for youth. The move is slated to save the government about $6.5 million annually. “The number of students visiting the seasonal Service Canada Centres for Youth in person has decreased significantly over the last few years, making them less effective and relevant for today’s youth,” Finley’s spokesperson, Alyson Queen, announced via email. Seasonal youth job centres spanning across the country were open from May to August—a time when most students are on summer break—and have existed in some form for the almost 40 years. Queen also claimed that the 4 general consensus coming from Canadian youth was that they’d prefer access to government services online instead of in person. This prompted the enhancement of the website, www.youth.gc.ca, to comply. The youth website’s purpose is to offer tips on resume writing and job searching. The offices around the country will still be open for anyone who wants to go in for in person help. The transition to online help has not been seamless due to the suspension of the government's Job Bank website, which has been shut down for weeks due to a security breach, causing much frustration amongst employers and job searchers. Over 135,000 employers are registered to the Job Bank website, which allows them to post employment opportunities to the public. An example would be www.vancouverjobshop.ca. Five employers were affected by the security breach, which the department says it is working around the clock to fix. NDP’s human resources critic, Jean Crowder, criticized the government in the House of Commons regarding the security breach. “Unemployed Canadians are trying to get back on their feet, but they are not getting the help that they need to get a job. The government is not serious about getting people back to work. There is no job-creation strategy and now, no Job Bank,” said Crowder. In response, Finley said that job creation is the department's top priority, and insisted that everything is being done to fix the problem. The wave of student centre closures also includes Douglas College’s The Cave youth employment centre, which faces permanent closure on March 31.